Tories’ ‘axe the tax’ message resonates in Manitoba: poll

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2024 (541 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A large majority of Manitobans want Premier Wab Kinew to tell the federal government to put the brakes on the carbon price increase slated for April 1.

A poll by Leger, which was commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, found 83 per cent of Manitobans either strongly support (57 per cent) or somewhat support (26 per cent) Manitoba joining seven provinces that have been actively lobbying against the increase.

“The poll is crystal clear: Manitobans want Premier Wab Kinew to speak out about the tax hike,” said Gage Haubrich, the federation’s prairie director.

“The overall costs will make it harder for families to make ends meet… Kinew needs to publicly oppose the carbon tax hike to send a strong message to Ottawa.”

“The overall costs will make it harder for families to make ends meet… Kinew needs to publicly oppose the carbon tax hike to send a strong message to Ottawa”–Gage Haubrich

The carbon price will increase to $80 per tonne from $65 per tonne next week. It is slated to continue increasing until it tops out at $170 per tonne in 2030.

Kinew couldn’t be reached for comment.

The poll was released one day ahead of a visit by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to Winnipeg. Poilievre, who has made “Axe the tax” his party’s mantra, will hold a rally at the convention centre Thursday evening.

Starting April 1, the federal government’s carbon price will jump to 17 cents on each litre of gasoline, 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas, and 21 cents per litre of diesel fuel.

Haubrich said the parliamentary budget officer determined the average Manitoba family spent $502 on the carbon tax last year, over and above the annual rebate paid by Ottawa to each family.

Manitobans who earn up to $35,808 will be rebated $436 more than they pay, while people who earn between $35,809 to $59,521 will get back $87 more than they pay.

On the other end of the scale, Manitobans who earn $133,469 and higher will pay $2,029 more than they get back while those who make between $88,659 to $133,468 will pay $690 more than they get in rebates. Manitobans who earn $59,522 to $88,658 will pay $286.

Portage la Prairie Tory MLA Jeff Bereza, the party’s agriculture critic, said the impending 23 per cent hike in carbon pricing, which he accused Kinew of supporting, will hit Manitobans at the dinner table.

That’s because the province is the largest hog supplier in the country, he said, and carbon pricing boosts the cost of fuel needed to heat barns as well as the amount spent on animal feed.

“Can customers of Manitoba pork stomach a 23 per cent increase in prices so that Manitoba producers can break even on the carbon tax?” he said in a statement. “Or will they just find another supplier who doesn’t have to pay the carbon tax?

“Either way, the carbon tax hike will cost Manitoba a lot of bacon.”

The Leger poll, which involved 400 Manitoba adults, was conducted March 22 to 24. It has a margin of error plus or minus 4.9 per cent 19 times out of 20.

Meanwhile, opposition to carbon pricing sparked vandalism to the office shared by the Manitoba Liberal Party and the Liberal Party of Canada.

Windows on the front and side of the one-storey building at 635 Broadway were tagged early Wednesday.

“Vandalism is never acceptable,” said Katherine Johnson, executive director of the provincial party.

“This vandalism is graffiti that says ‘axe the tax,’” Johnson said. “Obviously, this graffiti is parroting Pierre Poilievre’s negative rhetoric on the federal government’s price on pollution.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca